Posted onDecember 14, 2020bydshaw12|Comments Off on A Virtual Staged Reading of A Christmas Carol is cast and in rehearsals!
Our Virtual Christmas Carol is in online rehearsals in a VERY QUICK casting/rehearsal process. TCS wanted to bring our supporters a holiday classic in this year of uncertainty. Based on the Dickens classic, it has been adapted by Matthew Garlin to work a little bit better with the Zoom world we all now live in.
We had so many interested actors that we have enough for TWO CASTS!
Take a look at our Christmas Carol Page, check out our cast, and performance dates. The details about Donations for Tickets will be up on our Ticket Page by Monday night. Please forgive us the delay as we acclimate to all the new ways of making theater happen in 2020.
We hope you enjoy this staged reading and the hard work our casts have put into these events in such a quick turn-around. We are excited about their enthusiasm as well as being able to bring you some comfort and joy during this holiday season.
Comments Off on A Virtual Staged Reading of A Christmas Carol is cast and in rehearsals!
Posted onNovember 16, 2020bydshaw12|Comments Off on Santa Photo Sessions hosted by TCS! December 6 and 14
You are invited to sign-up for our TCS Pictures with Santa Sessions!
COVID-19 Protocols in place. Fun, socially-distant photo opportunities. 10-minute appointments will be booked every 15 minutes to allow for check-in and sanitizing between sessions.
Please schedule your appointment ASAP through the link below. There are a limited number of sessions.
SUN | Dec 6th | 10AM-2PM MON | Dec 14th | 4:30PM – 8:30PM
AMERICAN LEGION POST 210 44 TAYLOR STREET SAUGUS, MA
Payments – Cash at Event or Venmo to @Nick-Raponi If using Venmo, preference is to pay 24-48 hrs in advance. Please title payment w/ TCS and selected time slot, for example, TCS 10:15.
Comments Off on Santa Photo Sessions hosted by TCS! December 6 and 14
Our Youth Theatre Workshop this summer was based on our participants sharing their talents at the end of the week. They were recorded and we will be making a ticketed event available to help support our summer youth program.
We would like to include more of our TCS community in this endeavor to help round-out – Look What I Can Do! From Waaaay Over Here (Quarantine Edition).
There are multiple ways you can participate. 1. Share your talent with us! Follow the directions below for recording and submitting your talent. This can be a song, dance, recitation, playing an instrument, performing magic, doing stand-up comedy, etc. 2. We have a group song to be recorded. Let us know you are interested in participating in singing “You Will Be Found” from Dear Evan Hansen. 3. Purchase a ticket to support TCS and Youth Theatre Workshop and see local actors who you may have missed in the past pandemic months.
Keep in mind we are almost at Halloween. Feel free to submit something in the Halloween spirit – a fun or creepy song, an interpretive reading, a spooky story.
ALL SUBMISSIONS DUE BY END OF DAY – SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2020. (Our youth actors put their pieces together and recorded in five days – we challenge you to do it in the same amount of time!)
Request Music for Dear Evan Hansen song – Email TCSaugus@gmail.com and we will send you all the details.
Please keep in mind that as these will need to be edited together, the final project may not be available to view until after Halloween – but we’d still love to include any spooky submissions!
Posted onOctober 5, 2020bylsegel|Comments Off on Board Nominations and Election 2020
The election is coming up for the Board of Directors of the Theatre Company of Saugus. The election will be at our held at our Annual General Membership Meeting on Wednesday 2 December, starting at 7:30 PM. The meeting will be held via Zoom. All current company members should attend.
The board has nine members, with staggered terms lasting three years. Three members are elected near the end of each calendar year. Officers are chosen by the new and old board members in December.
This year, we need to nominate at least two new people. These terms of these board members are expiring:
Amanda Allen, our current president, is term-limited, so we need to replace her with a new person.
Deirdre Shaw, our current corresponding secretary, is eligible for a second term, and is willing to continue.
Mike Giusti has chosen not to continue, and needs to be replaced.
The other continuing members of the board include: Jeff Bliss, Matthew Garlin, Alicia Murphy, Allison Perry, Sean Perry, and Larry Segel.
The Nominating Committee has selected the following slate for election to new three-year terms starting in January 2021:
Victoria Isotti
Deirdre Shaw
Jill Sliby
The following people have also been nominated as Alternate Board Members. Alternate members also participate in board meetings, but are only called on to vote when we do not have a quorum of regular members.
Rosemary DeGregorio
Ben Tan
What is required of board members? There is a board meeting every month. During the pandemic, we have met remotely via Zoom. The remote meetings will continue even after the pandemic is over, so commuting to meetings will not be required. Board members also serve on committees, and take an active role in productions and on other company projects.
Many thanks to Amanda and Mike for your years of service!
Comments Off on Board Nominations and Election 2020
Posted onSeptember 27, 2020bydshaw12|Comments Off on NEW DATE – TCS Autumn Offering – Join Us Online – Thu, Oct 29th
Black Theatre Matters; or, For White People Who Don’t Know Why They Don’t Know Led by Jacqueline DiGenio
This session is being postponed to a new date, to be announced. New date has been scheduled – Thursday, October 29.
Date: Thursday, October 29, 2020 (Prior Date – 10/8/2020) Time: 7:00-8:30PM Where: Virtually on Zoom Cost: $10
There is a rich history of African-American Theatre, yet most of us can only name A Raisin in the Sun as a Black play we know. Why is that? Join us as we explore the legacies of Black playwrights, actors, and theaters, along with the elements that have left them largely ignored by white audiences, critics, and academics.
This seminar will speak candidly about race and bias within the arts as we explore Black theatre history in America from the Colonial period to present day.
Proceeds will be split between TCS and The Movement for Black Lives, which is made up of over 150 organizations that coordinate actions, messages and campaigns: https://m4bl.org/
Jacqueline DiGenio, a former TCS member, has studied Technical Theatre at Salem State and African-American Theatre at the University of Louisville. Before she officially “begins” her seminar, Jacqueline will address the fact that she is a white woman presenting this topic (and all the complications that go along with that), the discomfort with talking about race, and our ever-evolving sensitivities to the language that surrounds race.
Jacqueline DiGenio
Comments Off on NEW DATE – TCS Autumn Offering – Join Us Online – Thu, Oct 29th
Theatre Company of Saugus mourns Steven Friedman, who passed away on September 7, 2020. Steven was a very entertaining actor in two roles in the TCS production of From Moliere With Love in 2007. We did two short comedies by Moliere, in which he played Villebrequin in The Imaginary Cuckold and Geronimo in The Forced Marriage.
Steven was the beloved husband of Harriet Friedman, who directed the TCS production of Clue, the Musical in 2015. Harriet has been active with EMACT and has worked with numerous local community theatres over the years, sometimes with Steven.
Posted onAugust 23, 2020bylsegel|Comments Off on TCS Earns Numerous 2020 DASH Awards
EMACT (Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theatres) annually gives DASH awards for distinguished achievements, for shows that have been evaluated by their consultant reviewers. This year the awards were announced at a virtual Gala presentation on August 22, 2020. Instead of the usual format of six nominees and one winner, because of the pandemic-shortened season, this year they announced a varying number of Outstanding Achievement Awards in each category, for shows or individuals with the highest scores.
The Theatre Company of Saugus’ production of Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe, presented in October & November 2019, was the recipient of Outstanding Achievement Awards for a Musical in almost every possible category.
Best Musical
Direction – Jason Hair-Wynn
Musical Direction – Shawn Gelzleichter
Choreography – Jason Hair-Wynn
Ensemble Cast
Actor – Benjamin Finn
Supporting Actress – Christine Dickinson
Supporting Actress – Caroline Fonseca
Props – Amanda Allen, Jason Hair-Wynn, Damien LaCount, Deirdre A. L. Shaw
Hair & Makeup Design – Amanda Allen, Jason Hair-Wynn, William Fafard, Jr.
Costume Design – Amanda Allen & Jason Hair-Wynn
Lighting Design – Matthew Garlin & Jason Hair-Wynn
Sound Design – James Wlodyka, Mel Ingalls, Jason Hair-Wynn
Set Design – Nicholas Raponi & Jason Hair-Wynn
Set Dressing – Nicholas Raponi & Jason Hair-Wynn
The TCS production of James and the Giant Peach, presented in February 2020, was the recipient of two DASH awards.
Outstanding Achievement – Youth Actor in a Play – Brooks Workman
Consultant’s Choice Award – Excellence in Original Music – Greg Borodulin
Several TCS members were recognized for work done with other theatre groups:
Consultants Choice Award, for Set Construction – Lou Schoenthal for Young Frankenstein at Marblehead Little Theatre
Stage Management for a Musical – Jenn Ryan Gelzleichter for Carrie: The Musical at Arts After Hours
Direction of a Musical – Samantha Brior-Jones & Nathan Fogg-DeSisto for Beauty & the Beast at Massasoit Theatre Company
Choreography – Samantha Brior-Jones for Beauty & the Beast at Massasoit
Stage Management for a Musical – Nathan Fogg-DeSisto for Beauty & the Beast at Massasoit Theatre Company
Supporting Actor in a Musical – Bobby Imperato for Beauty & the Beast at Massasoit Theatre Company
Set Design for a Musical – Nathan Fogg-DeSisto for Beauty & the Beast at Massasoit Theatre Company
Set Dressing for a Musical – Nathan Fogg-DeSisto for Beauty & the Beast at Massasoit Theatre Company
Hair & Makeup Design for a Musical – Becky Jo Roland for The Addams Family at Arlington Friends of Drama
Hair & Makeup Design for a Musical – Kathleen Tringale & Ursina Amsler for Into the Woods at Stage 284
Congratulations to all our winners! And thank you to the EMACT team for all the recognition!
Comments Off on TCS Earns Numerous 2020 DASH Awards
Posted onAugust 12, 2020bydshaw12|Comments Off on TCS Summer Sessions – Join Us Online – 2nd & 3rd Sessions Aug 13th & 20th – It’s all about the Music!
“C The Notes” – A Crash Course in Reading Music for Singers Led by Ben Tan
Date: Thursday, August 13, 2020 Time: 7:00-9:00PM Where: Virtually on Zoom
“C The Notes” – A Crash Course in Reading Music for Singers: Experienced theatre music director Ben Tan will teach an introduction to reading music for singers. Students will go over the basics of visualizing rhythm and melody on the staff and apply music theory fundamentals to musical theatre repertoire.
Ben Tan, music director, hails from Wakefield. Previous music director credits include Frozen Jr, James And The Giant Peach (both at Middlesex School Summer Arts), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Theatre Company Saugus), Shrek, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Young Frankenstein (all at Alexander Children’s Theatre School), Grease (Babson Players), Spelling Bee (Emerson College Musical Theatre Society), Dear Edwina, and You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown (both Kidding Around at Emerson College). Ben earned his M.M.Ed. from Boston Conservatory and teaches music at Carver Elementary School.
Ben Tan
Healthy Vocal Technique for Musical Theatre Led by Lori L’Italian
Date: Thursday, August 20, 2020 Time: 7:00-9:00PM Where: Virtually on Zoom
Have you been missing your theatre community? Longing to belt out showtunes with your besties? Join us for a group voice class with TCS Alum and Professor of Voice in Musical Theatre at The Boston Conservatory, Lori L’Italien. Lori has appeared in TCS shows over the last 10 years including: Cabaret, The Producers, and Children of Eden. A graduate of The University of Maine, Longy School of Music and The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Lori has been teaching voice for more than 15 years and has been a regular on the Boston professional scene for as many.
Session includes:
Instructor-led group physical and vocal warm-up with explanation of how to bring each exercise into your practice and what its purpose is (grounding the voice in speech, finding clarity in the head voice/legit sound, bringing ease into the belt, extending the range, and releasing unnecessary tensions and strain from your body and voice).
Group experimentation with sounds and sensations, leading into healthful vocalise and work towards flexibility, and balance of register.
Individual Song Performances and Feedback – Students will have the option to present a selection or cut they have been working on. Lori will spend a short amount of time coaching one or two aspects of the song and giving next steps for what the singer can work on to bring the song to the next level.
Lori D’Italian
REGISTRATION FORM: Please complete the form below. You can use it to register for either session or both. Each session is $10 and you will be invoiced via PayPal after registration is completed. Questions? Email us at tcsaugus@gmail.com.
Comments Off on TCS Summer Sessions – Join Us Online – 2nd & 3rd Sessions Aug 13th & 20th – It’s all about the Music!